Villa Skipper's Pride

Gareth Barry doesn't look like he intends to leave Aston Villa any day soon after talking about his pride that he has reached the 300 mark (the youngest player in the Premiership to get to that milestone) and is now looking to catch Charlie Aitken's 656 appearance record.

The Villa skipper told the official site that the testimonial is a great achievement because so few players get them in the modern game.

'There's only something like one a year being played now it seems and it would be a good achievement and very satisfying to do it as a club as big as Villa. I'm not sure who I'd like to play in my testimonial - Inter Milan, AC Milan? Will they have heard of me? Maybe Brighton!'

He was also asked if he was looking at breaking long term records:

'I think about it but then you can't look too far ahead. Having said that, I've signed a four-year contract and I want to play as many games as possible and be successful. So if that means totting up appearances and climbing higher and higher towards the record holders then that would be a big bonus for me. I take it a game at a time and a year at a time, but hopefully records come with it.'

And illustrating what a great attitude he has he added 'You have to look at yourself: if you can't come to training and enjoy it, it's a fantastic job and we're doing something we enjoy. Every player should try to be the best player in training and every game. That's the way I approach it and I'm sure that's the way a lot of the other players do as well.'

How refreshing to hear a player talk about how much they appreciate their life and put back in as much as they get out. There are a few who could take a leaf out of his book who ply their trade in the Premiership.

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Gentlemen, gentlemen... Order please! The Rt Hon Mr. Fear had made some very pertinent remarks which should be read carefully and respected and not treated like scraps in the gutter. WELL SAID JONATHAN - GB represents the best in football and more are needed like him.

As much as I love GB he's still someway off what Frank has acheived. He gets so much undeserved stick in my opinion. As for Barry great to hear he's fully commited to staying with us, we cant afford to be losing players of his class.

A handful of internationals aside, Barry has not played matches surrounded by anything more than mid-table players. Lampard at club level is a great player, it's just that he doesn't stand out as much as Barry does as he is not that much better than the other players. International football is something of a mystery, anyway. John Barnes was the best English player of the mid to late 1980s at a club level - nobody could lace his boots.

Lampard was *****e for England in the WC and he's been *****e for them ever since. GB gave the side a much needed shot in the arm. If GB was at an overhyped club like Chelsea his name would be spoken with the greats of the game today.

"Frank Deflection Lampard" is not a bad player but he's not the same type of player as Barry. I would say Essien is more appropriate due to his versatility. Fat boy should be compared to Gerrard. In both cases there is 1 clear winner. Sorry but Barry and F***** would lose all day.

Lampard is a very good premiership player, but thats as far as it goes. These words, 'quality', 'class', 'great', are thrown around way too liberally. Jeez, someone on here was describing Crouch as 'quality' only last week. Anyhow this is about Gareth. Hats off to him. Another very good premiership player, our captain, a loyal one-club man (if we can forget Brighton for a minute), who hasn't received the recognition or won the honours that his ability deserves in his Villa Park career to date. Lately he has entered into the vision of the nation with his sterling displays for England, so all credit and good luck to him.

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